


Betrayed

by CheckerFox



Category: Adastra (Visual Novel)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:41:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27659669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheckerFox/pseuds/CheckerFox
Summary: Right before he was about to confess his feelings to Amicus, Marco comes across a shocking scene that impacts his relationship with the wolf.
Relationships: Marco/Amicus
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Memories

“Amicus!” The sing-song voice rang throughout the halls of the palace. It was unfamiliar to me; it sounded like a woman’s voice. Surely enough, a wolf I never saw before is walking down the hall towards Amicus and me.

“Hi, Virginia…” Amicus said with a sigh. As he said this, Virginia put both of her paws on Amicus’s shoulders and pressed the side of her face up against his. She then stepped back slightly and proceeded to roll her eyes at him.

“I was out on a trip across the  _ entire moon _ , taking your place, and all you can say to me is ‘hi’?” She gave Amicus a stern gaze as she looked between him and me.

“I-I’m just not feeling all too well, Virginia, that’s all…” Amicus put a paw on the back of his head and looked off to the side slightly. Virginia leaned in, and strangely… sniffed him?

“Ugh, you smell dreadful too. Can you please take a shower?” She sighed.

“I-I was swimming in the lake with Marco and… never mind…” Amicus sighed. He then looked down the hall while tugging my arm, urging me to follow him. “I need to go to my room…”

Before he could even take a step, Virginia stopped him. “Enough of your dour mood, brother. What we  _ should _ be doing is introducing our guests!”. She then looked directly at me. Her stare felt as though she were piercing my soul.

Amicus places a paw on my shoulder and pushes me forward slightly. “This is Marco. He’s an abandoned child.”

“Ha! And here I thought Cassius was just pulling my tail in his letters!” She reached out a paw, and I held it in my hand, lowered my head, and gently kissed it. “And it seems like they have a form of etiquette too!”.

Amicus looked at her with a mild puzzlement on his face. “Now, where’s the Khemian?”

“Manners, Amicus, He’s just examining the murals.” She turned to another hallway and called out. “Neferu? Could you come here, please? My brother would like to meet you.”

Another canine walked towards us, one with dark fur, much darker than Amicus or even Virginia. He was covered in golden highlights as well. I realized that he not only reminded me of a place on Earth, but an entire  _ culture _ . He stared. Not at Amicus or Virginia even, but at  _ me _ . I instinctively lower my head in order to not draw any attention to myself.

“Neferu, this is my brother, Amicus,” Virginia said, as Neferu nodded.

“Hello, thank you for letting me take up residence in your palace. It is indeed beautiful.” He said, still having his head bowed.

His voice was different to me. It’s hard to put to words, but I can understand that he is speaking a different language than Virginia and Amicus. A different feel, like a different dialect. 

“I must also apologize for my appearance, as I was out training earlier.” Amicus explained to Neferu.

“I see, it must have been a rough session, then.” Neferu noticed. “And who might this be?” His gaze wandered over to me. Amicus then quickly acknowledged me.

“This is Marco, an abandoned child.” With Amicus’s statement, Neferu lowered his paw towards me, just like Virginia did. I took it and did the exact same thing I did with Virginia.

“What a fascinating creature…” said Neferu.

After a brief back and forth, Amicus and I were soon back in his room. The thought of Neferu was still present in my mind that night.

Days had passed, and soon I was in the bath with Amicus. It was hot at first, as though I was about to be boiled alive, but soon became relaxing. Right as I was about to drift off, leaning on Amicus for support, I heard the doors to the room open.

Neferu.

“Ah, pleasure running into you again, Marco!” he said, as his hands tug at his loincloth. He then continued. “I always come in here every day for a while now. I was beginning to think that it was never put to use.”

He finally was able to take off his loincloth as well as his underwear. Amicus chimed in.

“I see, well, I enjoy the baths as well. I just tend to be too busy recently.”

“I know that all too well,” Neferu replied. He’s now behind me, and I hear him sigh as he slowly dips his leg into the bath, followed by his other leg. After finally submerging himself up to his neck, he sits down. Right next to me.

“So, Marco, how long have you been here? Oh, and do use your regular language, and not that… simple talk. I already know about this from Alex.” Neferu’s statement there sent a brief chill up my spine. Alex told him all about me potentially, and now my secret could end up getting revealed.

I stay silent, unable to reach anything to say until Amicus broke the silence. “Listen, I’m finding your questions to be awkward for Marco, please refrain from being so… blunt.”

“I’m sorry, I simply wish to know more about your slave,” Neferu responded. Amicus huffed in annoyance at the word slave.

“He is NOT a slave,  _ Jackal _ ,” he growls.

“Oh, we’re using informal language? Well,  _ Wolf _ , I simply wish to know why he has been downplaying his intelligence for everyone when he can  _ clearly _ hold a conversation decently.” With that statement, Amicus growled.

“Well, I do not know why you know so much about him or me. Come on, Marco, we’re heading back to my room.” He pulls me up, and as we both stand up out of the bath, Neferu followed us. I feel another paw on my shoulder. This time, it was Neferu’s.

“Listen, he is part of a species I know nothing about and have never seen before, and well…” He reaches out to touch my hair, rubbing it between his paw pads, just like Amicus does sometimes. “He is truly fascinating look-HNG!”

Before I can tell what was happening, I saw Amicus slam Neferu into the wall. Seeing his face, he is mad, even angrier than before.

“Do not. Touch.  _ My pet _ .”

“Oh I’m sorry, do I need your permission to touch him? Because he’s totally  _ not  _ your slave?” Neferu rolls his eyes.

“No. You don’t” I say. “But you do need  _ my _ permission.”

“My apologies, but may I touch you in the future, Marco? A hand on the shoulder? A close embrace? We Khemians are known for our intimacy.” Neferu gave me a sly grin right after.

“No…” I simply respond.

Amicus chimed in right after. “Now, think next time before calling me and my race a slave-driving people. My empire does not and  _ will not _ own any slaves!”

Neferu chuckled. “ _ Your  _ Empire? If I am correct, you are not the emperor, someone else is.”

Amicus got angry again. “It  _ will  _ be my empire, because I  _ will _ win the trials, and I  _ will _ become the emperor!”

I realize that Neferu isn’t looking at Amicus’s face anymore. Instead, he’s looking at… Now, that I’m looking at  _ it _ as well, it looks much bigger than it normally is.

“You know, I have heard rumors about the emperor’s son. How he was a tail-raiser. I did not see you using this as an opportunity. Did you simply wish to come onto me?” Neferu, in one swift motion, spun around and slammed himself into Amicus’s chest, his rear pressed firmly to his crotch. “If you wanted to have sex, then you could have just asked. I know that your wolven ways are more… aggressive, but I can adapt.”

Instinctively, Amicus threw Neferu against the wall, quickly had both me and him put our undergarments back on, and quickly stomped out of the room. “Come on, Marco, we’re heading back to my room. We can get the rest of our clothes later…” he said. 

As we walked back, I kept replaying the last few moments in my head. How there was a distinct sexual tension in the air, how Amicus strangely just  _ allowed _ Neferu to rub up against him like that…

I had to ask Amicus about that in his room...

Later on, in Amicus’s room. He told me everything. That while Khemians are known for their bluntness, the way Neferu was acting was odd at best. He also told me how he has a preference for males, just like me. With that in mind, I ended up telling him that I had the same preference. A strange, but welcome coincidence. I then proceed to tell him that I was open to talking about this more on one occasion…

That he will win the upcoming dance trial.

Looking back on it now, I know that is when the problem started. Neferu’s actions should have been the biggest indicator of what was to come.

If only I was a little more aware of that fact ahead of time...


	2. My Heart Dances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: DEPICTIONS OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY AHEAD! 18+ ONLY!

The day of the first trial had me tossing and turning in Amicus’s bed. At this point, I felt as though I had become a good friend to the wolf, and while I would prefer being able to go home, the thought of leaving Amicus left me a little sad.

After we both got ready (and me subsequently looking embarrassing with the makeup and the dress), Amicus lets the old wolf who helped out leave with a simple “Thank you”. Amicus then got up and left to be ready, as at that point his part was starting in about twenty minutes. For me, I had to wait around in that dress and embarrassing makeup for another hour. My mood was then dampened after finding out that this entire trial would be televised to the entirety of Adastra. Amicus, however, reassured me, saying that we would win the trial, he would become emperor sooner than I knew, and I could go home.

“When I do get home. When I do go back to Earth. Is that the last I’ll ever see of you?” I said quietly. Amicus frowned at that prospect but soon regained his composure.

“Well, once I become emperor, I’ll have unlimited access to the stretch drive. With that, I  _ could _ make as many trips as I want to see you. Would you want that?”

“Yes,” I simply said with a nod. “Besides, I want to know what’s going on here, even if I’m on Earth.” It was with that, Amicus’s face went back to a frown.

“Oh, uh, I just forgot. The reason  _ why _ you’re here…” Amicus trailed off. I then remembered the one fact that would keep us from seeing each other. The fact that us knowing either of us exists in the first place is against the law apparently. He bit his lip. “Well, I can try to find a way around it, but for now, we need to go and win this trial first!”

I couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm of that wolf. I heard a faint noise, Amicus’s personal Com, and he told me that it’s about time for him to get going. He waved me off, not before informing me that Com will tell me when it’s my cue. Before he walked out the door, I gave him a brief “good luck”.

Walking into the dining room, I saw Alex and noticed he was not wearing anything but his underwear, I chuckle a little before remembering that I’m not in a better situation. After a brief back-and-forth, we both agreed that despite whatever the outcome of the trials was, we will still be friends. Seeing Amicus and Cassius do whatever the hell they are doing made me confused. First, they each took turns blowing on some horn-like instrument, and then they were both “singing” or more accurately, howling. Finally, after each of them did that, I hear a voice ring in the dining room.

“Marco, Alex, the dance will begin in five minutes. Please proceed to the throne room.” It was Com. My heart felt as though it had skipped a beat, and we both get up and walk out to the doors to the throne room. With the way that I felt, I wonder if Alex was similar. I wondered if he felt just as nervous as I did.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

The doors opened, and I saw both Cassius and Amicus standing on the other end of the throne room. Just like the dreams I had about this trial, I see Cato sitting on the throne, and the three wolves are all there, staring at me and Alex. Neferu, as well as Virginia, had taken seats on the benches to the sides. On both Cassius and Amicus, there was a bright spotlight, clearly showing all of their features to the drones filming. Finally, before the dance had begun, I heard one final voice. The voice of an old wolf.

“Introducing Pet Alex from Omorfa, and Pet Marco from Simia.”

Then, the music began to play, hearing lyrics that my lingua could not make out. That was when I found out that we could not win this trial...

I was walking down from the throne room. We just lost the trial, and all the triumvirates as well as Cato chose Cassius as the clear winner. I felt a combination of both embarrassment and anger at what Amicus had made me do. I was angry at the system, I was angry at myself, I was angry at the situation I’m in and how I had no control over it, I was angry at the sheer humiliating display I had put on, and the offensive costume I was forced to wear, and I was angry that my only way home relied on me as well as the guy who got me here. I was simply just angry. 

Amicus soon followed me into his room, right after I took a shower and changed into normal robes. After seeing him, I gave a slight nod in his direction. I just didn’t want to talk right now.

“Listen, Marco, what happened? Did the cameras make you nervous? Was it Cato?” Amicus said with curiosity. I simply grunted in frustration.

“You know what? I just wish we could have at least  _ talked _ about the trial a week ago! We could have prepared just as much as Cassius and Alex, and we could have actually had a chance, but no, I had to get trained at the last  _ second _ , and get paraded out in front of god knows how many people in such an offensive and embarrassing costume!” I let out all my frustration about that trial all right there in front of Amicus. He simply stood there, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.

“Do you want to know what else? I didn’t even understand the song to know my cues! The lingua didn’t even bother translating it!” With that, Amicus groaned in frustration. 

“Oh gods, Marco, I’m so sorry… I didn’t even think of that as a possibility!” He said. I simply sighed and tried to comfort him slightly.

“Ugh… It’s fine… I don’t think either of us could have thought of it…” 

Amicus chuckled, and sat down next to me on his bed, slightly making it shake with his weight. “You know, with the way you get frustrated and angry sometimes, you remind me of Cassius.”

“Please, please,  _ please _ , don’t compare me to him. Cassius is the last thing I want to think about right now. You’re one trial away from losing the emperorship, and I’m one trial away from not being able to go home.” Amicus just nodded, and the corner of his mouth tilted up in a smile.

“So, about that  _ thing _ we promised to do before the trial…” I look at him in disgust.

“Seriously? You lost the trial and you still want that?! We do not have time to play around anymore!” I got frustrated at Amicus’s statement. “You just want a pity handjob, don’t you?”

“Ah, sorry, sorry… Well, I could just… hold you…?” He said shyly. 

“What? Why would you want to do that?” I was confused at this prospect.

“Well, companionship  _ is _ one of the duties of a pet, and I feel that doing this would help ease your mind after how stressful today was.” After brief consideration, I decided to just roll with it and ended up being held by Amicus. I have to say, that while it was embarrassing at first, being held by a guy whom I only recently got close to, it did feel nice. I ended up telling him that what we were doing then was similar to what people who were dating would do on Earth. With that in mind, he seemed to get curious about what a date was.

Days later, Alex and I finally had the time to have that lunch we promised ourselves, and we had briefly discussed how Cassius and Amicus both began to ramp up their campaigning. Before long, I saw Neferu walking towards us.

  
“Hello, Alex and Marco. How are the two of you doing this afternoon?” He said.

“Oh, it’s good.” I look to Alex, the one who had shared secret information about my intelligence with Neferu.

“Oh yes, I almost forgot, Alex,” Neferu said. “Here’s the oil that I requested. It is much better than the other stuff the wolves give us.”

“Oh, thank you Neferu!” Alex said, “ I’ll make sure to use it tomorrow!”

Neferu responds with a chuckle. “I hope you do! I’ll be there with you tomorrow so that I know you’ll use it! In response, Alex makes an uncomfortable grunting noise. “Anyways, how about you two take a walk with me?”

I decline Neferu’s offer, remembering what happened in the bath not too long ago. Soon after, I see a small silhouette near where Neferu walked towards me and Alex.

“...Amicus?”

Immediately, Amicus stood up, holding something behind his back, and trotted up to me.

“I’ve noticed in recent weeks, the two of us have found out we have so much in common…”

“Amicus, what are you-”

“I’ve figured that I wanted to make things much more casual from here on out, so Marco…”

I gulped.

“Will you date me, Marco?”

He held up a bouquet of flowers to me, with a large goofy smile on his face. I stood there for a moment in astonishment at the presentation in front of me, and I gave a little chuckle.

“I.. did something wrong, didn’t it?” Amicus put a paw to his face, clearly ashamed of himself. I just laughed it off and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Amicus, when people on Earth date, it’s when they have strong feelings for each other, or when they are looking for love.”

“Yes, and I have strong friendly feelings towards you, Marco, isn’t that enough?”

“Amicus, you’re making it out that I was supposed to know about this.”

“And you think those questions I asked you recently about dating were for nothing?” With his questions, I feel my cheeks start to get warm and red.

“Listen, Amicus, if it wasn’t for this… situation I’m in, if what we’re doing wasn’t something illegal to these “Parents”, then I would probably say yes…” His tail started to wag aggressively after I said yes.

“Really?! Do you mean it?!” I just nodded, and that somehow made the smile on his face get even larger.

After continuing a more casual conversation, he decided to get up and leave, stating that he needed to find a rhetorician for the next trial in two weeks. Clearly, he was now determined more than ever to win this next trial. He has to if he is to become emperor and I am to go home.

Later that night, it was revealed that for whatever reason, Cassius had broken into Amicus’s room. Amicus told me that he suspects Cassius of trying to plant a recording device somewhere in his room in order to find compromising footage or audio of him. With that in mind, my anxiety for the upcoming trial had increased exponentially. However, Amicus told me that it’s fine, and that he’s debated Cassius in the past. 

Another week had passed, and I can tell that despite my initial declining of Amicus’s date proposal, I’ve gotten much closer to him. He had shown me multiple times what he planned on saying during the next trial, and to me, it seemed like a solid argument. However, I couldn’t get Cassius off of my mind, especially after he went into Amicus’s room. I was scared of what would happen if Amicus was to lose the next trial as well, but all he told me was that I had nothing to fear, and that he would protect me from anything Cassius tried to do to me if that was to occur.

After all that, we decided to spend some time together on the island, just like what we did with Alex before the first trial. We even had our usual picnic, with the standard food and drink that we had back then as well. Amicus invited me to try out  _ pugnu _ , and when I finally decided to go along with this plan, he clearly had the upper hand. He wanted me to help me with that, since he noticed how worried I was about Cassius, this way, I could defend myself in any bad situation with him. After a brief session, and subsequent knocking-down of Amicus, I simply begin to chuckle, as I sit on top of his belly looking down at him.

“Hey, I thought you told me to pay attention, Amicus!” He smiled back at me, his paws slightly gripping my arms. A strong grip, but not strong enough to hurt.

“Exactly, Marco. It’s why you shouldn’t BRAG!” He says that right as he flipped us around, making him the one on top. He pressed his paws against my shoulders, but only hard to pin me. Our chuckling continued until I felt a cold feeling press against my lips.

While it was strange and surprising, I didn’t make any noise or movement, only blowing some air out of my nostrils as the wolf’s mouth was practically sealed to mine. Everything around me was silent except for the rolling sounds of the waves crashing against the beach. What felt like a minute passed until Amicus pulled himself off of me, crashing down next to me in the same exact position I was in.

“Uh… Amicus?”

“Yeah?”

“What… what was that?” I turned my head towards him, wondering about what just happened.

“Oh, the kiss?” he said, “I felt like after our disastrous performance in the first trial, I owed you a good one.” As he was saying this, we both sat up, and I looked at him. All Amicus was doing at this point was looking out at the water as it washed up to the shore.

“Marco… I like you. In fact, I  _ really _ like you…”

I nodded and looked out at the waves with him. “Yeah, Amicus… I like you too…”

“It’s just- This whole situation is messed up, Amicus,” I said, “I shouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah, I know…” Amicus said, “...Maybe I shouldn't have done that kiss…”

I shook my head. “No. No, I liked it…”

I continued on, “It’s just- once you become emperor, I won’t really be seeing you again. How can we really have a relationship if it’s going to be so short?”

Amicus stayed silent for a moment, until finally answering, “Well, maybe it can just be a short, innocent fling?”

Before long, Amicus’s face twitched into a grin. “Hey, Marco, is this…?”

It just occurred to me what we were doing… We were dating…

“Yeah… yeah I think we are…”

Several days later, I was in the gardens with Alex, taking care of the weeds as usual. I ended up talking to Alex about my feelings for Amicus, which over the course of the last few days, had only grown.

“Well, I’m no expert on wolven customs, but on Omorfa, we would normally confess our feelings to one another.” Alex said.

I took his advice into account, and after he walked off, as Cato needed his help with a task of some sort, I went over to where the most flowers were. Looking around, I decided to pick out the better-looking flowers. At the end, I have a sizable bouquet, not as large as the one Amicus tried to give me not that long ago, but a considerable size nonetheless. 

As I walk into the palace, I get a strange feeling in my gut. Something is giving me second thoughts, second thoughts on whether or not I should really be doing this. I put those thoughts to rest, thinking that if I offer to take Amicus out on a date, he can have that extra bit of confidence in himself for the trial tomorrow.

What should I do? What should I say? Should I do what he did when he initially asked me out weeks ago? I end up settling on that, as it can come off as funny and cute, right? Create a bit of a book-end on this period of our relationship with a mimic on how it became more casual. I go and press the panel, opening up the door to Amicus’s room.

What I see makes me freeze in place.

While it initially looked as though they were practicing  _ pugnu _ , the realization dawns on me nearly in an instant. Neferu laying on his back as Amicus continuously thrusts into him. Amicus is snarling, while Neferu is making clearly pleasured grunts. With the noises they are making, the sound of the door opening was clearly masked. I can only stand there. Motionless. As they continued thrusting, Neferu’s grunting and Amicus’s snarling only got louder and louder, until finally… they both climax. As I see the “results”, I decide I’ve seen enough. I’ve seen enough of everything. I try to reach the door again, to walk out, but…

It just shut, this time, with no other noises to conceal it. They both turn to look at me, eyes wide with shock. I look like an absolute fucking idiot, with flowers in my hand as I see the guy who I just decided to have feelings for fuck someone else. The reason as to why I was in the garden now was clear: he didn’t want me to know about this. I try to open my mouth to say something.

“I-” Something wells up inside me, and I throw the flowers to the floor, my hand shooting towards the panel as I run off.

“MARCO!” I hear Amicus cry out as I run away. I don’t want to be here anymore. I feel embarrassed. I feel angry. But most importantly, I feel like an idiot. I feel like an idiot for ever falling for Amicus’s manipulation to fall in love with him, only for him to love someone else this entire time.

I don’t care anymore… I don’t care anymore about anything or anyone here…

I just want to go home...


End file.
